Biology- Good Eating Habits

Good Eating Habits

If you think just eating selective food will keep you healthy, think again. The way we eat influences our health, even more than the foods we choose to eat. Which is why we should try to develop good dietary habits as early as possible.

Below are 8 dietary habits, which you should follow :

1. Never Overeat : Overeating is one of the most common and dangerous dietary habits. It often leads to obesity, which is a factor in many other diseases. When you eat more, the digestive tract and other organs get stressed, which can lead to the overworking and weakening of those areas. Always eat in moderation. In fact, eating small meals several times a day instead of one or two large meals is probably better for most people.
2. Never Under Eat : All forms of under eating like skipping meals, or eating only limited foods will lead to poor nutrition. Which will eventually lead to health problems due to protein, calorie, vitamin, or mineral deficiencies. Under eating causes symptoms like lack of energy and subsequent weakness, malnourishment of internal organs, skin problems, and hair loss, apart from medical conditions like anorexia, nervosa and bulimia. So, even if you are on a diet make sure you follow a plan that does not starve you.
3. Never Eat Late : Grandma's habit of eating dinner before sundown is actually a very healthy practice. It is best to eat earlier in the evening, ideally before dark, and not too heavily. You should also engage in some activity, both mental and physical, after dinner; and eat very little in the two or three hours before bedtime. If you have been going to bed on a full stomach, let me tell you it is a very unhealthy practice. The food just sits there, undigested through the night, so that when you wake up you feel full and sluggish. So, to add vitality in your life, start having your meals at the grandma time!
4. Do not follow rigid diet:
   You would have come across people who have very rigid eating patterns and who consume only a limited selection of foods. Though we all have certain preferences or biases, but following a very rigid diet is usually not in our best interest. It can lead to serious nutritional deficiencies, which can cause major health problems. So, next time when some one offers you a new dish don't assume that you won't like it, without even trying it.
5. Don't let your emotions eat : Our emotions strongly influence our eating behaviour. Some of us eat when upset or depressed; others cannot eat at all in this condition. But to maintain a more balanced diet, and thus a more balanced life, we need to learn to deal with our emotional states in ways other than with food.
6. Liquids and food : Drinking liquids with our meals is not really a good practice, since extra fluids can dilute the digestive juices, making it more difficult to break down food. But you can drink water before meals or sometime after. A Little bit of water with meals may help dissolve the food and stimulate digestive juices. Generally, water is our best beverage, and we should consume about eight to ten glasses a day.
7. Eat Slowly : We should always try to eat our meals slowly. It is very important because by chewing our food properly we start the digestive process in the mouth. This saves a lot of wear and tear on the stomach and digestive tract, helping us easily break down the food and utilise the nutrients contained in it.
8. Get prepared to eat : Apart from preparing the food with love and care we should take out time to prepare ourselves. By prepare we mean psychologically make our selves ready to receive nourishment, such as with a little prayer or some quiet time, This gives us a chance to get the most out of our meal.

Good Timing:

Cooking your food for the right time can help you restore a lot of nutritional value. Though different types of cooking requires different cooking time, we have a list of approximate time for which a food should be cooked so as to ready!

Items	Approximate Cooking Time (in minutes)
Vegetables:
Artichoke, large	10-12
Artichoke, medium	7-8
Asparagus	2
Beans, white	7-8
Beans, scarlet red	12-13
Beans, black	8-10
Broccoli, shoots and stalk	9-10
Brussels sprout, whole	4-5
Cabbage red or green in quarters	4-5
Cabbage in small slices	2
Carrots in 1 inch dices	5
Carrots in small dices	1-2
Cauliflower, flower heads	3
Corn on the cob	3
Lentils	9-10
Onions, whole	2
Okra, small pods	3
Potatoes, white/red, fresh, small whole	5-6
Peas, in the pods	1
Red Beet, small whole	12-14
Swede, in 1 inch dices	7-8
Turnip, small	3-4
Meats:
Beef / Veal, Roast or Brisket	40
Beef / Veal shanks	30
Beef / Veal, 1 inch cubes	15
Chicken, whole	18
Lamb leg	40
Lamb 1 inch cubes	18
Pork roast	40
Pork ham, pieces	25
Spring chicken	8-10
Grains:
Pearl barley	20
Rice brown	20
Rice, long grain	8-9
Rice, wild	25
Fruits:
Apples, dried	3
Apricots, dried	4-5
Peaches, dried	4-5